A Dividend Aristocrat With a Lot to Quack About

When a business gets a lot of its revenue from abroad, some investors may not realize how well the company is performing. Aflac (NYSE: AFL) is a company that domestic investors know is represented by a duck, but international investors know the company as a fast-growing insurance conglomerate. With more than 30 years of dividend increases, the stock may deserve a second look. Let's see if investors should add this stock to their watchlist for further research, or if this duck is about to get cooked.

Hidden growthOne challenge facing Aflac is that the company gets a large portion of its revenue and income from Japan. Sometimes this works in the company's favor when a favorable conversion rate benefits earnings. Other times, the conversion rate hides good earnings. A good example of this negative phenomenon is Aflac's current quarter, in which it reported that earnings declined by 17%, but excluding currency, this decline was just 5%.

Looking at the bigger picture, the company relies heavily on its strong bank relationships in Japan to sell its products. In fact, this year, almost half the company's new Japanese sales came from the banking channel. In addition, the company has thousands of sales agencies offering its products. From cancer insurance to new convertible life insurance products, Aflac Japan represents the company's largest revenue and profit contributor.

If we look at Aflac's U.S. operations, the company is working methodically to gain traction in some of the largest insurance brokerages in the country. The company has mentioned multiple times that this endeavor will take time. Another challenge is Aflac believes low U.S. consumer sentiment is partially to blame for weaker results. That being said, if Aflac can diversify its revenue stream, international currency fluctuations should be mitigated somewhat in the future.

To further illustrate Aflac's strength hiding behind the reported numbers, let's again turn to the company's current quarter results. For instance, let's look at Aflac and its peers when it comes to premium income and net investment income performance.

Company

Annualized Premium Growth (3rd Q 2012-3rd Q 2013)

Annual Net Investment Income Growth (3rd Q 2012-3rd Q 2013)

Aflac

6%

5%

American International Group (NYSE: AIG)

decline of less than 1%

decline 4%

AllState (NYSE: ALL)

5%

3%

Source: SEC filings.

As you can see, Aflac's performance looks very strong relative to a few of its peers. This could be an opportunity for long-term investors who understand that currency fluctuations shouldn't cause investors to ignore organic growth.

Hiding in plain sightOne of the first things investors look at when determining whether to buy a stock is its dividend yield. Aflac gives investors a yield of nearly 2.3%, which is higher than the industry average of 1.8%. In addition, this yield is just slightly below the company's five-year average yield of 2.5%.

If you look at a few of Aflac's industry counterparts, you can see that the company's yield looks favorable. Allstate pays a yield of just under 2%, and AIG yields less than 1%. While it is just one point to consider, Aflac's superior yield certainly is another point in the duck's favor.

Growth, growth, and growthWhile a decent current yield is one thing, many investors are looking for dividend growth. After 31 years of dividend growth, Aflac investors might wonder what is next.

The good news for shareholders is that Aflac is growing its top line. In the last two full years, the company grew revenue by more than 14% and nearly 7%, respectively. The company also grew its equity-to-assets ratio in each of the last two years.

With Aflac's strength in multiple areas, investors might be wondering what will happen with dividend growth in the future. If you look at the last five years, you'll see a pattern of growth that mirrors that of many companies in the financial industry.

Source: Nasdaq.com.

As you can see, coming out of the Great Recession in the 2009-2010 time frame, Aflac pulled back its dividend increases. As the economy improved, the dividend growth has returned.

With analysts calling for earnings growth of just over 5% from Aflac in the next few years, investors might be afraid that dividends may not grow at the same pace as in the past. However, the company recently increased its share repurchase target from $600 million-$900 million to a new target of $800 million-$1 billion. This seems to indicate management is confident in its ability to reward shareholders in the near future.

On the surface, it looks like Aflac may deserve a spot in a long-term investors' portfolio. If you believe Aflac is worth more research, just search AFL on Fool.com for more numbers, ratios, and news than you can quack at.

Our favorite dividend stocksDividend stocks can make you rich. It's as simple as that. While they don't garner the notoriety of high-flying growth stocks, they're also less likely to crash and burn. And over the long term, the compounding effect of the quarterly payouts, as well as their growth, adds up faster than most investors imagine. With this in mind, our analysts sat down to identify the absolute best of the best when it comes to rock-solid dividend stocks, drawing up a list in this free report of nine that fit the bill. To discover the identities of these companies before the rest of the market catches on, you can download this valuable free report by simply clicking here now.

Fool contributor Chad Henage owns shares of Aflac. The Motley Fool recommends Aflac and American International Group. The Motley Fool owns shares of American International Group and has the following options: long January 2016 $30 calls on American International Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.